The Chandos, a Samuel Smith pub in central London. In April the brewery announced it would refuse to serve swearing customers in its pubs.
Photograph: Jeff Blackler/Rex/Shutterstock

For most, overhearing the odd profanity is expected when going for an evening tipple at their local pub. But for punters at Samuel Smith watering holes, swearwords are strictly off the menu.

The owner of the 300-strong chain, 72-year-old Humphrey Smith, has introduced a no-swearing policy at every one of his establishments, and last week it was enforced in dramatic fashion at one pub.

Last Wednesday at 9.30pm some colourful language at the bar of the Arlington Hotel in North Yorkshire resulted in a mystery man yelling: “Everybody out.” He cleared the bar and locked the doors behind the customers, only reopening again on Sunday. Customers were bemused.

One source suggested it was Smith himself, head of the Samuel Smith brewery empire, which includes thousands of acres of Yorkshire as well as hundreds of public houses. A phone call to the Arlington Hotel results in a “no comment”.

The move drew attention to the policy introduced in April this year, when Samuel Smith’s brewery announced it would refuse to serve swearing customers in any of its pubs.

One of the brewery’s landlords, who would only speak on condition of anonymity, says Smith rules with “an iron fist”. As his wife repeatedly shouts at him to get off the phone, fearing he will be sacked, he says that Smith introduced the rule after surprise visits to two of his pubs.

“He walked into the pubs unannounced – he does this a lot – and found some people swearing. The managers were sacked on the spot. It didn’t seem that fair – there are places where Smith’s have pubs where the only language people speak is swearing. It is so hard to implement. After the sackings we were told that there would be a nationwide no swearing policy.”

He sighs: “I can only tell people so many times to stop swearing. They get excited, most of the time it’s harmless, not necessarily directed at anyone, just how people speak. But we’re responsible for stopping it.”

The Samuel Smith head office did not respond to requests for comment, so it was not possible to confirm the two sackings.

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Smith rarely gives interviews, and expects the same of his staff. A member of staff at the Crown Inn in Glossop, Derbyshire says: “It is really not worth me speaking to you. Mr Smith does not do any publicity and if his staff ever speak to the media they get the sack. None of us want to lose our jobs.”

Smith’s eccentricity is the source of local legend and seems to know no bounds. Regulars inside Smith pubs claim he habitually dresses up as a tramp and poses as a customer to make sure his rules are being enforced. Punters in the Commercial Inn in Oldham claim Smith once sacked a bar worker for not handing him the correct change – another tale of summary sacking it has not been possible to confirm.

In January last year Smith famously went to battle with the people of his own Yorkshire town after floods destroyed their bridge. Tadcaster was split into two separate communities after the incident two days before New Year’s Eve.

Smith opposed the construction of a temporary bridge over the river Wharfe, which would allow residents to cross the town. It would have to be built on his land but he refused, saying, at a cost of £300,000, the bridge was “a waste of public money”.

Despite pressure from residents, the town and county councils, the local MP, the mayor of Tadcaster and even the prime minister, Smith held out and the bridge was built elsewhere.

In the past, the brewery has been criticised by unions for its treatment of pub managers, resulting in a number of court cases. In October 2010, it was reported that it was taking legal action against Cropton Brewery over the use of the Yorkshire rose design.

Patrons have been unenthusiastic about Smith’s crusade against profanity. Photograph: Alamy Stock Photo

On New Year’s Eve 2011, Smith closed the Junction Inn in Royton, Oldham because the landlords were allegedly overfilling pint glasses. He allegedly issued a retrospective surcharge of £10,733 for lost stock over a 12-year period.

On a grey, rain-sodden evening, the Guardian visited another Samuel Smith pub in Oldham. The Hark to Topper, a 19th-century red brick premises in the town centre, was due to close at 7pm, apparently following explicit orders from the brewery.

Steve, 59, a HGV driver from Oldham, did not think much of the brewery owner. “I think Smith is a complete idiot. I mean why would you shut a pub at seven at night,” he said.

He was even less enthusiastic about Smith’s crusade against profanity. “I think it is absolutely ridiculous,” he said. “It’s crazy. Everybody does it, I don’t care who they are. When you’re in a pub you might have a game of cards, and when somebody wins you might say, ‘you jammy bastards’.

In Shaw, about five miles from Oldham’s town centre, patrons at the Commercial Inn are immediately greeted at the door with a sign warning of Smith’s “zero tolerance to swearing”.

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An elderly man in the pub, who everyone called the Vicar, said that the prohibition on “effing and jeffing” was only the tip of the iceberg of Smith’s illiberal regime. He said the pub used to be an open space until Smith segregated it into separate rooms, and, as well as swearing, standing at the bar was no longer allowed, and while ordering a drink there was a ban on using your phone, or even talking.

However, the punters at the Commercial did highlight some of the positives offered at the pub. David Walther, 56, from Glasgow, remarked that the “beer is lovely and it is cheap as chips”. On swearing, Walther said: “It’s just a human trait, and there are different types of swearing. It can be aggressive, or just talking with your pals.”

Down the road from the Commercial Inn is another Smith establishment, the Royal Oak. At this pub, patrons said that Smith himself might materialise that night, with rumours rife he was inspecting pubs in the area. Smith never arrived.

Craig, 38, a cable jointer from Oldham, thought the ban was immature. “To be honest if you banned everyone who was swearing in a pub you wouldn’t have a business,” he said. “Are they going to send you outside to swear?”

Craig then imagined that scenario: “Hold on lads we have got a little bit of swearing to do here, we should go outside and we’ll get it all out.”

Wren, 62, a builder from Shaw agreed with Craig, and said swearing in the pub was generally not offensive. “We’re all builders and we come in here at tea time. We’re all having a crack and you do get a bit of swearing, which is not strong swearing, but you get it on the building sites and all the rest of it. You walk in and all building blokes are in here, and they will ask what sort of day have you had to day, and they might say I’ve had a bloody awful day. Or I’ve not done any work today it has been pissing it down all day.”

Smith might want to encourage his patrons to not use bad language, but the overwhelming verdict is that the policy is not exactly being observed at many of his watering holes.

As soon as the subject is raised, one woman at a Smith establishment in Oldham leaps from her chair and declares succinctly: “I’ll tell you what I think of the fucking swearing ban, it’s a load of bullshit.”